PT Season 24 - Jack Bauer time! (2042)

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by waittilnextyear

Sure about that?

He actually did win one (PL) back in 2025. He has a winning career record with a very inexpensive team. I know everyone is just kidding about the name, and it is funny, but I have to give the guy some respect for putting together a strong roster on a shoestring budget.

[Orcin]

We are 12-1 since the drunken GM moves last night. I offer you a selection of my explanations for the dramatic improvement. There could be multiple factors at play, so feel free to select more than one correct answer.

1. Pure luck.
2. Weak schedule since the change (opponents in the 13 games had a .480 winning pct).
3. Joe DiMaggio is batting .529 (27-51) with a 1.50 OPS and 14 RBIs in the 13 games.
4. The pitchers allowed 19 runs in 13 games (1.5/g) vs. 3.8/g in the prior 44 games. The catcher and the worst SP were benched.
5. We committed 3 errors (.23/g) since the changes vs. 24 (.55/g) before. The two players with the most errors (SS-6 & C-5) were benched.
6. The new shortstop has a better range factor by +.5 and fewer errors (zero vs .17/g), i.e. reduced BABIP at that key position.

The real question that I want to ask is: The timer has expired on the benched players. If you were me, would you activate any or all of them or leave the active roster as is? Answers 1,2,3 would lead one to say "sure why not put them back in if they are better". Answers 4,5,6 would lead you to a different conclusion, as would superstition.

P.S. I am ignoring any answers from pappyzan and waittilnextyear.

[BigRed75]

It's time for an end-of-May, Mid-season, Magus-style Mega update.

Cincinnati Redlegs (OL) - P407 23-31, 5th place NCE: At the start of the season, I shared my hope that our pitchers, who had a stinky season last year, would regress to the mean. That hasn't happen, so either (a) we're unlucky, or (b) there's a new mean being established. At least we're not in a relegation spot, and we're clumped in amongst several other teams so if we can go on a run, we can get some separation. Still, hard to swallow that this time last week, we were in 1st place. Le sigh.

When Elmer Riddle is your best starter in Perfect, you know you just might have a problem. Johnny Vander Meer (yeah, I know, he sucks in Perfect) had a 15-K "Rocket Game." That was good for a nice stash of points. Actually, he's been blowing them away and is on pace for 267 strikeouts.

South Side Lumber Company (White Sox) - S275 25-29, 4th NCW: I cannot figure this team out. I would love to be able to, but I just can't. I'm sure it's nothing that 100 OVR Ed Walsh can't fix. A total wheel-spin of a season.

Amarillo Gold Sox (OL) - S313 27-25, 2nd NCC: Two games out of the wild card, 5 1/2 out of the division. We are on the half of the bracket that is stacked with OL teams. I'm a bit disappointed by almost everyone's performance - even Van Mungo isn't up to his usual standards. Drysdale has been an outright disaster and Alex Rodriguez has turned third base into a Superfund site. The six-game losing streak didn't help but that's over now.

We're also thisclose to completing the Knuckballers mission. Ten pitchers I won't use (unless I enter a Bronze-only tournament) but a Gold pack. Maybe it'll be useful. The last Gold Pack I got from a collection had a 100 deGrom in it.

Rottnest Island Quokkas (FTP) - G338 30-26, 1st ACC: Bless the Quokks, they are my special team. They are definitely looking to bounce right back to Diamond and I think they can do it! Vida Blue is finally doing the Vida Blue things I've expected from him. It had gotten so bad that I had to send him to the bullpen two seasons ago. Now, he's 7-1.

Everett Aquasox (Mariners) - B241 32-25, 2nd ACC: Okay, I won't lie to you. I was really hoping for a double promotion. But we're three games back in the loss column and even farther away in the WC so I'm not sure it's going to happen. Just like I'm not sure that J.J. Putz is ever going to show back up in the AH.

Dave Fleming, though - an 81-pitch Maddux. Just three hits. WTG!

Charlotte Monarchs (Pack only) - S266 20-37, 5th NCC: I'm not surprised. This team, as currently constructed, is a monument to horrible pack luck. If my son was in charge of this team, with all his pack luck, then they would probably be the Quokkas. But I paid (metaphorically, all my teams are FTP) for the Quokkas, dammit.

At least I didn't pay for this team. This team is crap.

We got a triple play. That was good for 2,000 points and two packs. Which will probably end up disappointments.

Baltimore Orioles (Orioles/Browns/IL Orioles) - G322 27-28, 4th NCC: It wasn't the price I was looking for, but it was close enough. Babe Ruth has (re)joined his hometown club. This Bambino is of the pitching variety, which is fine because Diamond pitchers are in short supply. But he's also down to DH and pinch hit for me as well, because, why not.

The team itself is doing okay. I'm happy enough with one game under .500 because I'm going to need more points to make this team competitive in Gold.

Clinton Lumber Kings (Points) - B263 32-28, 3rd ACW: I should have just left well enough alone because the way I had set things up last week worked. But how was I to know that, instead of bumping up the stolen base tendencies and making Kirk Gibson a 30/30 player, instead he couldn't hit his way out of a paper bag and I'll be lucky if he ends up a 10/10 player? Or that our biggest point driver so far this season is our defense?

After everything, it turns out we're in one of those weird-sized leagues. 18 teams, four divisions. One conference has ten teams, the other 8. Because of that, one conference actually gets three WC teams. Guess who's in 3rd place in the WC?

Thetford Mines Mineurs (Canada) - B209 36-21, 2nd NCC: The Mineurs are the little team that could, perpetually in the shadow of their twin team the Aquasox. But they were leading their division until they got passed by a team on a six-game winning streak, and they're still only behind by percentage points. Yesterday, it was Mark Langston's Maddux that got the headlines. Today, it was Tim Raines's 4 SB. I'd say the move back to LF suits him. Strangely, my two worst SP are the ones with the lowest stuff ratings and highest control ratings.

[old timer]

The Mammoth Mud Hens are having a freakishly (for them) good season so far. They're 42-23 .646 and are 1st in R (which is amazing for this team) and are hitting .313 (How?! Even Belanger is hitting well, at .291). They're also 1st in D (as usual) and 3rd in RA, thanks in part to Bob Gibson being 10-1 1.57 ERA.

Since I went to opening packs for this team, we've only acquired 2 players worth adding to the active roster, but both have been contributing nicely (an RP and SP). I've gotten more silvers and golds and diamonds than expected, but only 2 of them were kind of good so I've just sold the rest to invest in more packs. It's fun this way so far, but unless we get an extremely lucky pull, it's certainly not helping as much as spending on the AH, but that way was getting boring.

[Solafide]

The Dayton Lawmen are on a roll!!!! First year expansion team and currently holding one of the WC spots and only 1 GM back from winning the division. 8-2 in last 10 games!

Current record: 37-30
MVP: Roger Clemens with a 7-2 record, 2.62 ERA, 75.2 IP and 71 K to 22 BB

Best Hitter: Rusty Greer (one hit wonder 1997) batting .345

[Ravioli27]

Originally Posted by waittilnextyear

Sure about that?

weird to see my 3rd team get referenced on the forums randomly haha

I haven't been paying attention for awhile and just picked up Trout on that team this season. i might be able to get 1 other player with the funds that I have accumulated but its probably just going to be like this

[Ravioli27]

Also I have this so... I feel like i'm doing my job right

[old timer]

The Mud Hens are now hitting .320. With that lineup, it's hard to believe they're on a 965 R pace after 74 Gs. While some of those guys are good hitters in any season, I've never seen so many get so hot at the same time and this far into the season. Unfortunately, our pitching is sucking more than normal. Fortunately, it's not mattered yet since we're winning 2/3 of our games. It would be nice if they could finally win a championship or at least make it to one.

p.s. - Belanger just reached .300 in the latest game!

[waittilnextyear]

Originally Posted by BigRed75

Well, defense wins championships. He gave up 12 runs to you, therefore, he has no defense. So his losing record checks out...

Ah, but the teams committed no errors in that game!

Originally Posted by Orcin

He actually did win one (PL) back in 2025. He has a winning career record with a very inexpensive team. I know everyone is just kidding about the name, and it is funny, but I have to give the guy some respect for putting together a strong roster on a shoestring budget.

Yeah, all in good fun. Considering his third team is about as good as my main team, I can't get too cocky. I just enjoyed the juxtaposition.

Originally Posted by Ravioli27

weird to see my 3rd team get referenced on the forums randomly haha

I haven't been paying attention for awhile and just picked up Trout on that team this season. i might be able to get 1 other player with the funds that I have accumulated but its probably just going to be like this

Not a bad 3rd team. Just as long as my Frogs don't have to get squished by your main team. Also, I have to say your manager name makes me want to go grab a can of Chef Boyardee...

For the sake of fairness, I am attaching a pic of your squad grinding out a low scoring win against my guys. And with your new Mike Trout getting the glory.

Pay no attention to the error column. You are getting sleepy...

[JasonC23]

Well, the Huntley Red Raiders went and had themselves a month: 21-3 so far in June. Happy birthday to me!

Odd facts about this run:
- All 3 losses were at home.
- Two of the 3 losses were by 1 run. (For all its success, Huntley's record in 1-run games stands at 9-10. Luck is the residue of design--except when it isn't!)
- Huntley still trails the (you guessed it) Singapore Sluggers in run differential and overall W-L record, mainly because Singapore is 22-3 so far in June. <Shakes fist harder at Singapore> The Carolina Dirtbags have kept up nicely with the Sluggers in the AC, though, only trailing them by 5 games in the race for the #1 AC seed.

One personnel change for Huntley this month: to the bench goes Diamond (97) Roy Campanella; into the starting lineup, thanks to completing the Texas Rangers missions, is Diamond (98) Ivan Rodriguez. Buck Ewing moves full-time into the backup C/utility man/pinch runner role that he should excel at.

Standings...

[Izz]

The 'Glou are 38-42.

Trout's 22 homers leads the league and we're 16-10 in June with a day to play.

Dykstra's hitting .326/.384/.465 out of the 9-hole (I had him at leadoff but he wasn't doing so well there but he seems to love hitting at the bottom of the lineup; he's gone .438/.488/.671 in June), while Mookie's enjoying his best season for a good while, hitting .280/.365/.483 and projecting to score 109 runs.

Highlight of the month was sweeping the division-leading East Rutherford Swamp Dogs (49-31) in a 3-game home series, the final game a 20-3 blowout.

[PocketsAintFull]

Gold .302 is a fun league. The top team is at 47-32, the bottom team at 32-47, and my Milwaukee Northern Alliance have a crazy division right now...

[BigRed75]

It's July 1, and my son's team is in first place, 14 games up on 2nd place and 30 1/2 games ahead of 5th.

[Marleigh]

A late round up today, Paragon City Heroes still messing around winning a bit losing a bit to see them to 50-40, swapping the lead back and forth in the division. Madlock is at a glacial OPS+ of 69 (nice). I treat myself to 15 packs and hit a lucky streak, getting diamonds Mel Parnell and Luis Severino (who is going into the bullpen for a trial), and Live Lindor, who is going to replace Madlock at 3b, he can't be worse and will eventually have a glove. Madlock is staying as a backup. With the golds I got the sale of Parnell put me in profit and I gained 2 players on the roster

Bad News Bulldogs are stinking up Perfect at 36-53, but then I sold quite a few players, inc most of the rotation, and the team responded by going 6-4 in the last 10 including a sweep over the runaway division leaders. I bought peak Barry Larkin as he is my favourite player and he's hit .160 so far

Neuman Furshlugginers have a 1 game lead at 47-39 after a 12 game win streak followed by losing 11 of the next 13, so we were qabove .500 for that stretch at least! The star of the pitching staff is Wilbur Wood 9-3 2.82 era

[Dogberry99]

Originally Posted by Marleigh

Bad News Bulldogs are stinking up Perfect at 36-53, but then I sold quite a few players, inc most of the rotation, and the team responded by going 6-4 in the last 10 including a sweep over the runaway division leaders. I bought peak Barry Larkin as he is my favourite player and he's hit .160 so far

I had extremely high expectations for this card. I expected him to do well enough as a full time player before eventually transitioning to an infield platoon (or speedy bench piece). He destroys lefties, which shouldn't be a surprise, but he is significantly worse against righties than I expected someone would be with such even ratings. I do not regret this purchase (and my long term plans for him remain unchanged), but I'm definitely glad I didn't pay as much for him as I was initially willing.

[gemini615]

My first season in perfect has been mildly entertaining so far.

Let's put a positive spin on being 40.5 games back.....
we haven't been mathematically eliminated yet AND we're better than Rochester.

Oh, and I almost forgot, Feller had 15 K's in only 6 innings.

[Orcin]

The Colonels reach the all-star break in second place at 65-30, so we are 42-9 since shuffling the roster yesterday morning. The division race has closed from a 10-game deficit yesterday to only 2 games behind now, so we are back in the playoff hunt and looking forward to the stretch run. We have seven all-stars, including starting pitchers Cy Young (17-3, 1.97) and Tim Keefe (14-4, 1.57).

Cleaning up some loose ends from my earlier post, I concluded that these are the reasons for the improvement:

Originally Posted by Orcin

1. Pure luck.
2. Tough early schedule

Superstition prevented me from bringing back two of the players that were banished in the purge, and they are still in digital limbo.

I did pick up an old friend, Babe Ruth, to be my DH for the rest of the season. My expectations for him are different this time. I don't expect MVP awards. I am really just looking for a DH that does not need platooning, runs up opposing pitch counts, and fits my Earl Weaver strategy (3-run HRs and strong pitching). He checks all three boxes there, and he could earn a permanent spot with a good audition.

[X3NEIZE]

P429 Bronx Bombers - ASB Point Review

It's been a very inconsistent first half for my Bombers and I feel for other contenders, my team seems to be losing vs teams they would typically win and these aren't just one-offs but seems I can't hit a respectable winning streak.... that said we are 1st but barely... and wasn't the case until July.

My biggest threat are Virginia Beach Freaks, who in my opinion, are the team to beat in-road to the WS, we're up 6-5 vs the freaks, The Brooklyn Bombers started very very hot and even beat my team 4-3 in our 7 -game series (they had 4 home games). What worries me the most is that while our pitching is head over heals better than Brooklyn, they are not performing at all.... gotta love baseball

I've demoted a few players Ken Griffin Jr. (I actually finally sold him, he has been torrid for me), Curt Schilling (just re-promoted him), Pedro Martinez (horrible the first couple of months), Dennis and Lee both over 10 ERA, and for the first time I had to bench DiMaggio vs (R), although he is still very much productive, but inconsistent this season.

I'm not too confident in going up head to head with anyone in October, things will need to change.

The Orlando Shockers are facing some of the same issues we're facing and like the Bombers they too have some stiff competition in the Armada and the Farmers..... it's going to be an amazing play-off to watch!

Here's are some screenshots for reference:

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by X3NEIZE

It's been a very inconsistent first half for my Bombers and I feel for other contenders, my team seems to be losing vs teams they would typically win and these aren't just one-offs but seems I can't hit a respectable winning streak.... that said we are 1st but barely... and wasn't the case until July.

That's a tough league!

[Snider&Hodges]

Been playing OOTP since 19. I just switched to XX a week ago and created my first ever PT team. I did not think PT would be for me, but goodness was I wrong. It's a wonderful mode, and addictive!

Not planning to spend money but I've completed a couple of the one star collections and gotten some pack luck. Also just hawking the AH to make improvements, of which there's a lot to make for a new IL team.

Hope everyone has a great second half!